LEGO Batman The Movie: DC Super Heroes Unite

An award party for Gotham City's Man of the Year, Bruce Wayne, quickly descends into chaos when The Joker crashes onto the scene with a full gallery of rogues at his side, including The Riddler, Catwoman and Two-Face. The Dark Knight swings into action to corral the uninvited guests, but one criminal attendee isn't quite so obvious - Lex Luthor, and with him a secret weapon that could change the balance of power in Gotham forever: The Deconstructor! The troublesome team of Lex Luthor and The Joker may be more than a stubborn Batman and Robin can handle alone, but what are Super Friends for? Join the crusade against evil as Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Justice League storm into action to protect the innocent, save Gotham City and even have a few laughs along the way.

LEGO Batman The Movie: DC Super Heroes Unite Blu-ray Review

Kids rejoice! Parents... find something better to do.

The tiresomely titled Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite isn't as fun as the multi-console videogame from which its derived, or
as funny, entertaining or clever for that matter. A combination of videogame cutscenes and new bits designed to fill in the gaps left by the missing
gameplay, the 71-minute CG-animated feature works well enough when parodying Batman (Troy Baker) and his quirks, his relationship with a much
too eager Boy Wonder (Charlie Schlatter), and his shaky on-again, off-again bromance with bounding boyscout-in-Blue, Superman (Travis
Willingham), but falls apart in the punny, villain-y-villain slog between laughs. If my eight-year-old's reaction is any indication, kids will do just fine,
cracking up early, often, and without fail. Parents, though -- even the Lego-savvy moms and dads among you -- may want to come up with an excuse
to duck out of the room.

Jealous of Bruce Wayne's "Man of the Year" award, the ever-opportunistic Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) teams up with Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker
(Christopher Corey Smith), to bring down the Dark Knight, Robin and the Man of Steel. In addition to Luthor, the Crown Prince of Crime and a giant
gas-spewing, kryptonite-powered robo-Joker, the heroes have to contend with Batman's most dangerous rogues: Two-Face (Troy Baker), Harley
Quinn (Laura Bailey), the Penguin (Steven Blum), Catwoman (Katherine Von Till), the Riddler (Rob Paulsen) and Poison Ivy (Bailey). But fear not,
kiddies. The newly formed dynamic trio will find assistance by way of Commissioner Gordon (Townsend Coleman), Batgirl (Kari Wahlgren) and their
powerful JLA allies: Green Lantern (Cam Clarke), Wonder Woman (Bailey), Flash (Schlatter), Martian Manhunter (Clarke) and Cyborg (Brian Bloom).
Soon it's all out war, with Gotham's future at stake and the U.S. presidency on the line.

Mistake 1: re-purposing so many videogame cutscenes, which kills much of the pacing and plotting. Mistake 2: relying on Lego-game gags in an Lego
animated feature. Mistake 3: benching the JLA until late in the game, which even then proves to be a tragically short-lived burst of much-needed
energy. There are other missteps along the way too, chief among them the heavy focus placed on Lex and the Joker, and it all translates into a stilted
movie; one so trivial and one-note that it makes its 70-minutes feel bloated. It's all harmless, of course, and I'd take Lego Batman over the
dozen or so unbearable animated films that just leaped to mind. But in this case, harmless is a bit synonymous with pointless. Rather than use pre-
existing assets to create a new adventure, the recycling reeks of laziness and a quick cash grab. The kids who will love Lego Batman are the
same kids who already own -- and have presumably already obliterated -- its videogame counterpart. Even my son, who had a blast watching the
flick, lamented how much he had already seen (or played).

The voice actors do an excellent job with what they're given (groan-inducing one-liners and all), and the lively animation style is exciting (far more
exciting than anything it actually depicts). Moreover, the banter between Bruce and Clark is golden, Robin's childlike enthusiasm had me laughing out
loud, and a handful of pop culture references elicited a grin from my son's dear ol' dad. It's just a shame the script and superheroics are too tame to
stir up many thrills, the movie-parody beats are few and far between, and most of the jokes fall dutifully, dreadfully flat. As direct-to-video family fare
goes, you could definitely do much worse. But as animated superhero adventures go, there are too many must-have releases on the shelves to give
this one a lot of consideration. Sure, a low price point and a Lego figure go a long way, but it takes more than that to declare a recycled videogame
production worth the cost of admission.

Banding is really the only issue that mars Warner's shiny new 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation, and there's so much going on at any given
moment, the stair-stepping is only noticeable on a few occasions. Otherwise, all is as it should be. Better even. Colors are bright and bold, primaries
pack plenty of punch, black levels are deep, and contrast pops. Detail is strong too, with crisp edges, well-resolved cape and brick textures, and very,
very little in the way of aliasing or ringing. All told, there isn't much to complain about, which bodes well for future direct-to-video Lego movies
released on Blu-ray.

Lego Batman's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't all that remarkable, but it does get the job done, and then some. Voices are
intelligible, well-prioritized and nicely grounded in what could have been a floaty, disjointed mix. LFE output is decent, latching on to the movie's action
and lending some welcome heft to the weightless battles. The same goes for the rear speakers, which have some fun and get a bit rowdy when a fight
breaks out, but tend to just eek by rather than ruling the soundscape. If I have any gripe it's that the music sounds flat and canned much of the time,
and only surges forward when it isn't competing with dialogue or more aggressive sound effects. Ultimately, it's an effective track, particularly
considering its humble origins and lingering limitations.

There's better superpowered family fare on the market than Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite. But there's also much worse,
making this recycled videogame production a decent purchase if you've exhausted other options. Younger kids will at least get a big kick out of it, so
there's that. Warner's Blu-ray release is a bit more enticing -- with a strong video presentation and able-bodied DTS-HD Master Audio track -- but only
marginally so, and the special features are a bust. Still, I've reviewed more unworthy contenders for the direct-to-video animated throne, so a blind
buy isn't a complete loss. You might even enjoy yourself, providing you didn't catch the story the first time around with Lego Batman 2: DC Super
Heroes.

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Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has issued a press release detailing the Blu-ray release of LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Heroes Unite, which streets on May 21st. The Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet Combo Pack includes a bonus Clark Kent LEGO figure and a number of extr ...

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